Charter Labels June 15 Van Nuys Fiber Cuts Domestic Terrorism Disrupting 50,000 Customers

Charter Communications has officially classified the deliberate June 15 attack on its Van Nuys, California, network as an act of domestic terrorism, citing the extensive damage and severe disruption to critical services. The assault severed 13 cables, including over 2,600 individual fibers, causing widespread outages that affected more than 50,000 residential customers and over 500 businesses, including a U.S. military base, emergency dispatch and 911 services, local law enforcement, financial institutions, healthcare facilities, and educational institutions. Charter CEO Chris Winfrey condemned the attacks as intentional threats to vital communications infrastructure that endanger lives and called for immediate federal and state legislation to classify such attacks as felonies. He also urged dedicated engagement from law enforcement agencies and swift prosecution of the perpetrators. The incident is part of a growing national problem, with nearly 6,000 intentional attacks on U.S. telecommunications infrastructure reported between June and December 2024, impacting essential services for over 1.5 million Americans. The FBI defines domestic terrorism as violent criminal acts motivated by domestic ideological goals, though the motives behind this specific attack remain under investigation.